Hither to the mountainside, say goodbye tonight
by Just-LiveLaughLove
Summary: In the twilight hours of the setting sun, by the mountainside- where the water meets the edge of the horizon, everything glistens in an adorned beauty. The ancient promises of the land whispers to the living. It's a place of peace, a place to laugh, to dance and to cry. It's a place to say goodbye. Klaus and Caroline And the original family


_**Fire. An element lathered in colours of goldenrod, red, orange and blue. A force so powerful, so overwhelming it consumes you… Destroys you, when you let it. **_

"I couldn't do anything to stop it", her blankets curl around her. Her tiresome body tucked in comfortably by her older brothers works of assistance.  
Elijah hushes her all the while, fitting her into the safety and warmth of her bed.

Though it does nothing to relieve the pain. Does nothing but encircle her in the sheet of her failure.  
It is Elijah's' presence though, that barely calms her. Barely soothes her aching pain.

"I failed him, Elijah" she whimpers, her eyes glued to the window. Where souls swim in the night's breeze: the ageless form of life.  
Allowing the past and the present to coexist in secret; to live on forever.  
She looks for Nik, somewhere in the breath of the forest.  
Waits for him to tap on the thin frame of glass.  
But he never comes.

"Rebekah" Elijah whispers, his heart, his _dead _heart weighing down on him. He says her name, like a distressed protest, a desperate plea to rid herself of the ache. But he knows, beneath her most elegant and regal layers of strength- Klaus, his brother, built her up. Made her strong.

Klaus was a fragment to her masterpiece of blocks and with him gone; it is like she is crumbling.  
All stability lost. She is being pried apart and she can do nothing more than hope and dream of the day she will see those dead again.  
"He was always there, Elijah. _Always _and I- couldn't…"

"Shh" he sits by her, his weight sinking in the bed, stroking matted hair from her swollen eyes and sweaty temple. The lamplight casts a heavy shadow of fatigued vigor over his weary face.  
"Bekah" she knows now, how much Elijah truly hurts. He rarely uses nicknames, he is formal - proper.  
Seeing his sister, his _baby_ sister hurting, was a dagger to his heart.  
His eyes glisten, his lips in a tight line, even as he speaks. Repressing what sobs collect in his throat.

"He loved you, like none other" he says gently, rubbing restful circles over her shoulders. Leaning in to catch her eyes with his dark ambers.  
Something along the lines of weakness and responsibility swimming in them, "you gave him what he always wanted. Someone to trust: to depend on. Someone who loved him unconditionally".

He thinks of Niklaus, all the qualities that made him _his _brother- Klaus tempered anger, his hostility, his rage, his insecurities, his beauty, his hopes, his dreams, the love he had for his family and his family alone.  
All of it, all the colours and the shades, everything- quelling into a distance.

This time it is she who grips Elijah's hand, giving a feeble squeeze. He hasn't noticed his own tears.  
Every drop contains his regrets, his sorrow, and his guilt.

"He knew you loved him too, Eli," she croaks, lips trembling. "_Always and forever"_.  
She cries now, heavy and grave and oh so painful.

His grip on her tightens; cradling her with stalwart arms. Ensuing a form of protection and an unspoken promise, '_we will get through this. We have to'_. He doesn't say them. Not yet. He's still trying to believe them himself.

Her tears dampen the collar of his coat, his lips purse into the crown of her golden hair; a shattered halo, a withered crown. He whispers short words of endearment. Words that are coated in hope, sprinkled with despair.

"So it's true," a meager voice thickens the room. They turn to see Kol. Standing by the door.  
Clearly stricken to a halt at what he sees, one foot in the door, the other shut out (not all too sure where he belongs).

"He's gone?" His eyes deceive his foreplay, his attempt of shielding the horror and denial with a mask indifference cracks – lets his anguish leak through.  
Elijah is the one to answer, though Rebekah's eyes say it all, "yes. Nik is gone".

Wetting defiant lips, that reminds Elijah very much of Klaus; lips that would pull at the corners to produce childish remarks and mischievous smirks painted in trouble. Except now, Kol's lips set themselves into an unyielding line.

Kol turns, without another look over his shoulder, and begins to walk away. To leave the house, that in itself embodies the echo of the hybrids fading escape the house that carries his older brothers' desires; the innocent dream that his family would rule in these very walls.  
Live together.  
As one.

_I wanted a family, they just didn't want me_.

The words dance before him; they are strung together with guilt's all-consuming fingers.  
They wring around Kols' neck, they puncture Bekahs heart, and they send Elijah into a suspended sleep.

Rebekah shifts to run after him, Elijah reprimands her attempts with an outstretched arm.  
"Kol" his voice, not the silent command, is what steps before the younger boy. Propels him to a still.

Kol looks down to his feet, like a shameful puppy that disobeys and disappoints their owner.  
Like a child provoked by fear to run, but encouraged by naïve faith to remain. To put all his hope- his heart into the hands of another. It's been too long, since he's trusted another so fully. Relied on another so blindly.

"Please, come". Taking a shallow breath, Kol revives what fortitude he has left and faces his sibling.  
When his eyes trek up, Elijah notes that his eyes are everything _but _strong. If nothing but misery.

_How many more times must we say goodbye to those we love?_  
As if reading the question, Elijah gives a short nod; _together. We will do it all, together.  
_  
Rebekah holds out a trembling hand, beckoning her brother forward. Trying to reel him in before it is too late: before a tide of hatred pulls him away into an abyss of confusion and an eternity of loneliness.  
And for an immortal, the curse of forever to be faced alone would be what hell feeds on.  
That would be hell in itself, taunting and claiming them as its own.

"Please, Kol" she mumbles, unable to bring the words out clearly. No longer an order, but a frantic request, "we are all that's left".  
He counts deep shallow breaths, looking to each of his remaining family. _Henrick, Finn, Niklaus. Gone. Forever. That leaves three. _  
He shrugs his shoulders but nothing falls away. Tears are the only thing to find the floor.  
"Ok" he whispers. Blinking away his brothers' faces, he takes his baby sisters fragile hand (somehow, only now seemingly appearing to be seen as her age- a young girl, not a thousand year old ravenous vampire).

They all lean against the wall. Rebekah safely sandwiched between her brothers. Resting her head on Elijah shoulders, weaving her fingers through Kols' dangerous hands, that now reek of vulnerability.  
And just like that, they stay together. Waiting for morning to fall in through the curtains.  
A promise that time will move on. And so shall he. The brother long gone… Dead and gone.

There was a serene calm surrounding them. A subtle current of loss coursed through, falling past their barriers in forms of tears and unspoken pledges. To remain together and live out the legacy of Klaus' deepest passion; family. To live on, together, as he would have wanted. In honor of his memory.  
They swore this devout promise in unison.

Somewhere in the distance, the howl of a wolf sounded, saluting his spirit to the moon.

The howl loomed over the forest, it flourished the dangers and powers that brewed within the soil of ancient sites and untouched places. The wolf stands, silently, watchfully, by the line of trees that separates the humans from the clandestine of nature's sanctuaries.  
Its' golden eyes slice the blanket of black, it was feral but there was a longing in its deep fiery gaze.

The wolf, coated in fine silver silk hair, holds the image in its eyes; of three vampires (almost as old as the tree the wolf lingers by), huddling together like a football team. Trying to strategize the tenderness of what possibilities could grip their lives. They assemble tightly, like a brumby of horses, remaining together. _Always and forever._

The golden eyes are slowly replaced with deep pools of dark pupils. The nuzzle reforms into a small crooked nose with high set cheekbones framing think pink lips. Silver hair becoming black and smooth. Paws manifest into human hands: hands that belong to that of an eighteen year old man.  
(Much too tortured to be a boy any longer).

"If any of the others see you standing outside here; they will start asking questions". The Bennet which emerged from the belly of the forest.  
Her presence was not a surprise for him, he knew she was coming and knew he should have left the moment he picked up her scent. But seeing Rebekah crying as she had, he could not stop himself from following her.

"Klaus" Bonnie pushed, her voice stark and abrupt.  
"If it isn't the rogue witchy friend that saved my life" his accent is not rich in its' English origination. It feels wrong to be speaking with this voice. To look through these dark cases. He never knew how different each person sees the world. How vibrant or bleak one could view it. This body, he knows, is fueled with unnecessary teenaged angst. A constant throbbing sensation of sexual desires.

"I am not your friend" she says.  
"Yes, but you do care for the body I am currently occupying". No matter who or what was housing him. Klaus always evoked his most insensitive ways.  
"I did it for them" she retorts coldly. Crossing arms over her chest. Proudly? Protectively?  
Klaus pleases himself on the latter.

"That is true. Which brings me to the next matter at hand. When do I get my body?"  
"Well, there may be a problem". She answers.  
"Excuse me?"  
"you were burnt. _Crispy_. It may be impossible to restore it completely" she explains a little lighter this time.  
"Well that is a crying shame" his voice rumbled. He quirked his eyebrows up at her, "For Tyler" he smirked when he noted her shift. The sudden realization tackling her with an overwhelming force.

"If I cannot return to my own body, Tyler will soon learn what it really means to have no self-control". He let it sink in. let each word fall into her, burning and bruising its way through her system.  
"Find the cure, witch. Or it may not end so well for your _friends_".


End file.
